From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
On Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:23:37 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <
spallshurgenson@gmail.com> said this thing:
Has gaming stalled? Can it compete? That seems to be the gist of a
recent report on the state of video gaming* by venture capitalist
Matthew Ball.
Another interesting tidbit from the report:
Roblox is big. Like, really big. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, you just
won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean,
you might think Steam has a lot of users, but that's just peanuts to
Roblox.
How big? It's engagement (e.g., hours spent using a product) is more
than that of Steam, Playstation and Fortnite... combined. It's up
there with Netflix in hours spent on its services. You want to attract
the attention of the youth? You're not spending your precious
development dollars on Ubisoft or Epic. You're pouring them into
Roblox.
And it's still growing. And not just piddling 5% or 10% (which is what
most services would love to see)... but 25 to 70 percent.
Of course, Roblox is still 'gaming', so its popularity to some degree counter-acts the earlier narrative of how video-gaming is having
problems competing against other stuff, like porn, mobile, gambling
and videos. And of course, you could point out that a lot of that
activity on Roblox is probably bots, and --even if not-- it's mostly
young kids, who may move to more 'mature' platforms as they age out.
Although, you know... maybe not. Or not to the degree earlier
generations did.
But the overall gist is that the face of video-gaming is changing. It
might not be the mainstream, everybody-does-it activity it's been
since, oh, 2010, where everyone from toddlers to grandmothers were
playing big-budget games on their XBoxen and Wiis. Video-gaming may
slowly be going the way of the OTA/cable television; sure, everyone
has one, but the number of people actually watching it is diminishing.
It'll never go away entirely, the same way radio still has a niche,
but it won't be as central as it has been in the past.
#
All of which makes me wonder about Valve and Steam. Because it's
incredibly tied to this old-school model of video-gaming. Of all the
people competing in that market, it seems the least prepared for these
changes. It doesn't really have any mobile presence. It doesn't have a
hit 'everybody gotta play it' game like Fortnite. It doesn't have a
streaming service. It's ridiculously PC-centric. It offers numerous
community services (forums, chat) but these are all largely tied to
the games it sells. People aren't going there mostly to hang out and
chill. Of course, all this is stuff _WE_ see as beneficial. We don't
want Steam to be the next TikTok or Roblox... but _WE_ aren't the
future.
GameStop (the American software retailer) was in 2006 at the height of
its success, and something nobody can imagine not being central to the
gaming conversation... but even ten years later the writing was
already on the wall for the GameStop (and now, GameStop is a joke
supported only by its over-valued meme-stock). This happened because
the market shifted beneath Gamestop's feet and the company either
couldn't or wouldn't change to meet the new challenge. You have to
wonder if Steam might be headed in the same direction.
#
Whaddaya think; is the face of gaming changing? Will we still be
playing the same way in 2040 the way we are today? Will the titans of
2026 still be dominant? Will Valve?
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